CHARLESTON, SC (Tribune News Service) — Seven cadets have voluntarily withdrawn from The Citadel as part of an ongoing investigation into widespread hazing and training violations, Citadel officials said Wednesday. Dozens of upperclassmen have been disciplined.

The seven includes three more who have left The Citadel since the military college first announced a widespread disciplinary crackdown on Feb. 20.

The seven will not be allowed to come back, officials said. A voluntary departure allows a student to withdraw without having to gamble on disciplinary proceedings that might result in a cadet’s being formally expelled – an outcome that would be part of that person’s permanent record at the school and might prohibit someone from becoming an officer or performing another role in the military.

None of the seven who left are female. But officials said a number of the cadets who allegedly suffered the hazing or training abuses were female. And at least one female cadet faces allegations as a perpetrator. The Citadel is 90 percent male, and how women are being integrated into the military culture has been a topic of interest since they were first admitted in 1996.